Signs and Portents (Babylon 5: Season by Season, Book 1)

Rating:
Summary: Good bookcase reference to Season One of B5
Review: This is a good reference to Season One, a must for anyone who is a fan of the show and definitely for those who don't have Internet access and/or haven't found the Lurker's Guide to Babylon 5. The summaries are good, though the reader has to skip over some of Killick's commentary regarding what was "good" and "bad" about certain episodes. What is most fascinating though is the behind-the-scenes commentary, finding out that Koenig WASN'T originally thought of for Bester, etc. The stories behind the stories are a good bonus to buy this book.

Rating:
Summary: A good book for fans, but if you are new to the show....
Review: This is a really good book series for B5 fans. It makes a great companion & fun reading after you have watched each show. But I would recommend it mainly for those that have seen the series & are watching it again. The reason I say that is because it is laced with spoilers all throughout the commentaries. That's fine if you've seen the whole thing already, but it stinks if you are watching it for the first time. If you don't mind that sort of thing...go for it, but this is the only reason I gave it 4 instead of 5 stars. For a good "non-spoiler" companion guide, I highly recommend The Babylon File: The Definitive Unauthorized Guide to J. Michael Straczynski's TV Series Babylon 5 by Andy Lane Versions 1 & 2. He shows no mercy sometimes. If he does or doesn't like the show, he let's you know. But it's a blast to read.

Rating:
Summary: A good book for fans, but if you are new to the show....
Review: This is a really good book series for B5 fans. It makes a great companion & fun reading after you have watched each show. But I would recommend it mainly for those that have seen the series & are watching it again. The reason I say that is because it is laced with spoilers all throughout the commentaries. That's fine if you've seen the whole thing already, but it stinks if you are watching it for the first time. If you don't mind that sort of thing...go for it, but this is the only reason I gave it 4 instead of 5 stars. For a good "non-spoiler" companion guide, I highly recommend The Babylon File: The Definitive Unauthorized Guide to J. Michael Straczynski's TV Series Babylon 5 by Andy Lane Versions 1 & 2. He shows no mercy sometimes. If he does or doesn't like the show, he let's you know. But it's a blast to read.

Rating:
Summary: For all serious fans of B5
Review: This is an episode guide done by an English writer. Thus the delay in getting this on the market for almost five years. Well worth the wait. One of my pet peeves with the Starlog series magazines and the Starlog general magazine as well, is the lack of complete credit lists of the artists and creative personnel. Nothing is more annoying to me than wondering all through an episode who someone is (as in-- I've seen that face before, or, who's that, they're really good?) and wanting to find out what else they've done (using the net of course) and then there is a swing insert preview or teaser at the end which squinches up the cast credits. Or you missed the leading credits, but that doesn't matter anyway, because there are five or six opening credits and you don't know any of them. And they go by too fast to write down. (Hercules and Xena do this scrunching all the time. Better to scrunch the chief grip, etc. ) These episode guide books are really handy for looking someone up, just as useful as the episode summaries themselves. In addition, there have well-written commentaries and analyses of the major themes of the series. This series is so well packed that since I have been watching the reruns on TNT, I picked up on sub-texts and hints that were not returned to until the fourth season when there was doubt that a fifth would be done. I am looking forward to buying the last three books, I already have the first two. Carter Rila

Rating:
Summary: A fine reference book that every B5 fan should have.
Review: This is an excellent reference book. I skipped the capsule descriptions of the episodes and went to the real meat: the behind-the-scenes stuff. Whether it's an anecdote by one of the actors/actresses, or getting into the nuts-and-bolts business of keeping the show on the air and staying within budget, this volume never failed to delight.

Rating:
Summary: A fine reference book that every B5 fan should have.
Review: This is an excellent reference book. I skipped the capsule descriptions of the episodes and went to the real meat: the behind-the-scenes stuff. Whether it's an anecdote by one of the actors/actresses, or getting into the nuts-and-bolts business of keeping the show on the air and staying within budget, this volume never failed to delight.